Realms of Dread, Chapter Four

[Ken of Ghastria]

inside the warehouse

Breana and Blaise find:

-crates, lots of them. The crates are laced shut with tarry ropes.

-a few rats, which run away or hide when the searchers get too close-

-a green glass bottle, broken at the top and empty-

Blaise frowns. He looks over at Breana and shrugs. "Nothing obvious over here," he says, "at least from an arcane sense. I'll keep looking." He goes over to where the rats fled, looking for loose floorboards or similar areas that might lead to a concealed hatch or entrance through which the rats ran.

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OOC: I'm guessing this would be a Search, not Spot check.

[Lord Skybolt]

After sitting down and explaining this days events to them Threan says:"So I was thinking that you would want to get in on the investigation . I thought Glim could prepare some detection spells for detecting evil and talking to a possible witness to last nights events I have obtained from the crime scene .
Also since you have gotten your spell book back Inovidil your should back up to full spell use strength as it were . "

[ewancummins]

King's Tower-


Jamethon surveys the room full of scrollls and legders, a mass of chaos that's very slowly, painfully, creeping towards something like order as the harried old man and his assistants laboriously sort paper.


''Damn. ''

He shakes his head and inhales, then exhales slowly.

''Now , then, to answer your question: I think those carts are two, two-and-half feet off the ground. You are asking if the clearance could be used as a hitch by the child-monsters, right?''

Drowning Flagon--

Glim answers his brother,

''Kidnapped children? Of course I'll help! Ino, will you be rejoining your team for this? The items must be delivered on time, but we aren't in terrible crunch. We can make time to help. Those children need us.''


Warehouse-

Blaise finds a trapdoor in the floor, mostly covered by a big wooden crate.

Breana's detection spell continues to turn up only negative readings.

[BigBadQDaddy]

King's Tower-

''Now , then, to answer your question: I think those carts are two, two-and-half feet off the ground. You are asking if the clearance could be used as a hitch by the child-monsters, right?''

"Exactly." Alain says as he stops in his tracks to look back at Jamethon. "Think about it, The carts the night soil men use already bear a foul odor. The scent given off by the demonic children would be masked by the overwhelming human excrement.
"The night soil man we interviewed this morning said when he saw the demonic children scaling the wall, they where directly above him. The children could have used whatever mean they use to scale the walls to "hitch' themselves to the bottoms of the cart. With a two and a half foot clearance their would be more than enough room for them to do that. And once the night soil man makes it to the targeted destination, they drop off and up they go, into the window."
He takes an excited breath before continuing.
"Once they grab the children they can no longer ride underneath the cart so they head off to the warehouse district by the most direct route. That would explain why Threan only saw tracks leading away from the scene."

[ewancummins]

King's Tower

Jamethon-

''Hmmm...that does make sense.''

[steveflam]

Breana approaches the trapdoor with Blaise. She concentrates beyond the door and has a thought. "These beings are evil as well, are they not? Too bad I didn't pray for an evil detection spell, Blaise. Though I do have two more Undead detections. Well, shall we see what we may find below?"

[Ken of Ghastria]

"Indeed," says Blaise. "Let's look. Besides, I find detecting evil to be overrated. In my travels, I've found anyone to be capable of anything." After withdrawing his dagger, he tugs open the trapdoor and peers down, using his enhanced vision.

[steveflam]

Breana moves next to Blaise at the trapdoor, peering into the darkness of the trapdoor's opening. Though Blaise may not be able to see properly, unbeknownst to him, she can actually see quite well into the gloom. She keeps concentrating on her detection of undead creatures. She ponders any spell she might be able to cast to help as she looks below.

[VAN]

"Sure thing! Count me in! Threen please tell us more about that."

[Lord Skybolt]

"Well I thought you magic user types could go back to the shop to prep some of spells for chasing down some undead and other dungeon exploring spells . Then after that we could go to the Kings tower to meet up with the rest of the group earlier to be a more powerful combined force against what ever we find while we search for the children . And while on the way back to the shop I can fill you in completely on what's been going on while you two have been working on those magic items for our the customer ."Threan takes a swallow of his drink after sharing his thoughts what they should be doing next .

[ewancummins]

Warehouse-


The trapdoor opens upward, revealing a narrow crawlspace beneath. The rectangular space is only two feet deep, but is a couple of feet wider and longer than the trapdoor's dimensions. The inner surfaces are of red brick, not wood like the warehouse floor. The only things you find within the crawlspace are some dust balls, a palm-sized scrap of faded yellow cloth; and a rusty iron nail, bent in half.

[steveflam]

Breana doesn't even bother to ask Blaise if he wants to go in and have a closer look. She just climbs down and grabs the piece of cloth, handing it back to the bard. She concentrates on the crawlspace, hoping for some help from her spell. She does pick up the bent nail and holds it for now.

OOC: ewan what can Breana tell from the crawlspace? She will take a few minutes to inspect it, look for a possible secret or hidden door. By what can she tell about it, I also mean is it well made etc etc

[ewancummins]

warehouse-

A close inspection of the crawlspace below the trapdoor reveals no hidden passages, secret doors, or anything else along those lines. The scrap of cloth is linen, perhaps once of fine quality but now faded and frayed. The bent nail is , to all appearances, and ordinary bit of ironwork. The brick lining of the crawlspace is well-made, but not ornamental or fancy- just solid craftsmanship.

[Ken of Ghastria]

Breana doesn't even bother to ask Blaise if he wants to go in and have a closer look. She just climbs down and grabs the piece of cloth, handing it back to the bard.

Blaise takes the cloth and frowns. "Well... that's not what I had hoped for. Let's do one final look and then leave. It's possible that the creatures came here hoping to find a place to hide in and instead found a crawlspace that not even rats would like and.... Hmm, let's check the adjoining buildings, Breana. If that's true, then they might not have gone far before they found a place more suitable."

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OOC: Blaise will do one more check with detect magic, then lead the way to the next building, unless Breana has a different idea. And just to clarify, there is no attic or loft in this place, is there?

[ewancummins]

warehouse district

A final sweep of the burgled [but apparently not robbed] warehouse yields nothing of note. Blaise and Breana check out the adjacent buildings, but find that everything appears to be in order; no overtly suspicious activity and no signs of any B&Es at these other buildings.

[OOC no attic or loft, no. DM doesn't find anything.]


King's Tower-

Jamethon asks Alain,


'' Well, shall we go to the nightsoilers now- or are there other tasks we should execute while we are yet here at the Tower? Have we any business to conduct with the Baron's men? ''

Drowning Flagon


Ino and the two gnomes don't spot the strange woman until she's standing beside their table. She's of middling height, slim, gray-haired but youthful in face and form, and dressed simply but well; a gray silk dress and a necklace of emeralds to match her bright green eyes. The woman politely clears her throat, just a soft murmur to attract the attention of those seated at the table.


Morningmist Hall-

Having finished interviewing the temple staff, Ironheart and Shana are invited to share a light afternoon meal with a few of the senior clerics.